Former Tottenham manager and football pundit Tim Sherwood thinks Spurs fans would rather watch their rivals Arsenal at the moment, instead of the kind of football Antonio Conte has got his side playing.
The North London rivals have both made a strong start to the domestic season, with Arsenal currently sitting at the top of the table and Tottenham just behind them in third place.
Both sides have lost just one game so far in the Premier League. Unfortunately, Spurs’ defeat came at the hands of Arsenal, in a 3-0 loss at the Emirates at the start of the month.
While Spurs have been grinding out results, their performances have come under scrutiny for what has been perceived as a boring, defensive approach to winning football matches.
Arsenal meanwhile have been more expressive, and their fanbase are excited by what they have seen this season.
Speaking to Premier League Productions (15/10/22 at 7:55 pm), Sherwood claimed that Spurs fans are probably wanting to see more of an attacking style of play from their team, more akin to the way Mikel Arteta has got the Gunners playing.
He said: “As well as we are doing, Arsenal are doing a little bit better. The Tottenham fans, whilst they won’t admit it, would rather be watching the brand of football Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal players are delivering.
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“But if Antonio Conte can install this consistency and continue to get the results, as he has done everywhere he has been, then I am sure they will be happy with the end product, which hopefully will be us being above Arsenal.
“But at the moment, I’m not holding my breath because Arsenal are going really well. There are different ways of playing football. There isn’t a right or wrong.”
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I have to say, I think Sherwood is wrong here. Yes, it would be nice to see Spurs rolling teams over and being on the front foot more often, but there’s a lot to be said for the more patient and pragmatic approach we are currently employing.
I’m personally more than happy to see solid performances like the one against Everton last night, where we are in control without setting the world alight, than see the team risk it all and get caught short in defensive areas. You can’t lose if you don’t concede, and Conte appears to be instilling that classic Italian mentality in our side right now.
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